


Of Consenting Age

by windlost



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:16:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23085382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windlost/pseuds/windlost
Summary: In which Sehun finds himself perpetually tongue-tied and always,alwaysbroke.
Relationships: Lu Han/Oh Sehun
Kudos: 6





	Of Consenting Age

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published to Livejournal back around 2012. Collecting here for posterity and also to give future me the joy and pain of rereading my old works.
> 
> Title from Panic! at the Disco

It’s taken him twenty-two years, but Lu Han thinks he’s finally mastered the art of seduction. All it takes are expensive lotions to keep skin baby soft to the touch and a closet composed entirely of silk items. 

There is a knock at his door, heavy with a hint of urgency. 

Lu Han adjusts his robes, running his hands over the course of his limbs to ensure that not a wrinkle is in sight, and saunters towards the door, milky white toes sinking into the velvet red carpet with each step.

The door opens slowly and creaks due to the rusty hinges. Lu Han darts a quick tongue across his bottom lip.

“Lu Han.” He says in an almost whisper-like voice while leaning his head into the doorframe and playing with the hem of his silk garment. “But you can call me Lu.”

ϑ

The low lighting in the restaurant casts all the right shadows, as if obscuring truth where it doesn't exist. Baekhyun steals pasta off of Chanyeol's plate while the latter isn’t looking. Jongin pours them all another round of soju. The waitress brings them cake.

Glasses clink, candles are lit, and a song is sung. Then Sehun is suddenly eighteen.

Jongin says eighteen comes only once and therefore he should do something crazy with it. Crazy, in Jongin's terms, is defined as a certain corner on the city map that makes Sehun blush. Seventy-fifth street is displayed blatantly on Jongin’s phone while he casts suggesting eyes and nudges Sehun.

“No.” Sehun objects immediately.

“Why not?”

He can feel his pulse speeding up, embarrassment quickly settling in.

“There is absolutely no reason I should.”

“You’re eighteen.”

Sehun blinks.

“So are you.”

Jongin smirks. “Correction: you’re eighteen and very, very not laid yet.”

Chanyeol giggles into a glass of sprite. 

Sehun doesn’t have anything to say to that, his mouth hangs open while his cheeks flush. Baekhyun swipes a mushroom from Chanyeol’s plate. They beam very mocking smiles at Sehun simultaneously.

Unfortunately it’s three against one, so Sehun finds himself standing on a rainy street corner with a few hundred dollars of cash in his jean pockets, a heart beating out of control, and a little shred of dignity to defend... or not defend, depending on how it’s taken.

In every way possible, this is a horrible idea and he has horrible friends—Sehun thinks. He wishes he had drank more of the soju, but no, he’s actually more sober than he would preferably like to be.

The last few minutes of lingering outside a tacky building with tacky neon signs and even tackier velvet curtains in a questionable district of the city has Sehun going through every possible escape scenario, from hiding behind the dumpster for a few hours to simply finding new friends altogether. Nothing seems quite plausible or ideal. 

He can feel the intensity of three pairs of eyes on his back, egging him on, and he wants to mentally cry. Despite the night, there is light everywhere, neon signs blinking excitedly. He’d find it exciting if he didn’t find it terrifying.

Rain and mud splash against his sneakers as Sehun takes cautious and half-reluctant steps towards the fake mahogany door. The guy guarding it, cross-armed and very intimidating, does nothing to soothe his anxiety. His piercings glisten in the light. Sehun shudders. 

Somewhere behind him, hidden behind a row of parked cars, Jongin lets out a whistle and Sehun thinks maybe new friends would be a good idea.

“Is this…” Sehun glances down at the messily scrawled address on his palm where ink is already mixing together with his sweat and the rain and he coughs, “this is Seventy-fifth Street?”

The guy narrows his eyes. He has a gold plated nametag pinned to his shirt and the bejeweled lettering of the T catches the streetlight, reflecting a flash of intense brightness into Sehun’s eyes. He squints. 

Tao.

"Uh.." Sehun clears his dry throat, eyes warily glancing around. Rainwater runs down his face in the same way sweat would. “Uhm…”

He taps his toes, unsure how to go about this. The cash suddenly feels way too heavy in his pocket.

"Do I just?..." Sehun points to the fake mahogany door and makes the attempted motion to enter. His feet shuffle forward but Tao takes a step sideways, effectively blocking him off. The left side of Tao’s face twitches; Sehun thinks this is suppose to be a grin. He also thinks he should just turn around and leave, but his friends are watching, so he can’t.

"Do you uh… need ID or something? Or..." He lets his voice trail off, hand motioned towards his wallet. Uneasiness circulates his bloodstream and Sehun wills his feet to stay in place so he doesn’t just turn and run away. 

Tao remains quiet and absolutely still, cross-armed and intimidating. 

He eventually chuckles and steps aside, fully amused at the terror he’s invoke, but Sehun feels the terror in his stomach swell even more when Tao pats him on the back, using a bit too much force which causes Sehun to let out an inaudible oof. 

He’s then directed to a lobby, which he stumbles into, and he receives what he is informed as a complimentary lap dance from Minseok and complimentary soda served by Tao.

Sehun sinks into the sofa, but finds the cushioning too soft for his liking. 

He sips on the soda quietly. The only sound in the room is the fizzing of the drink and the occasional brush of fabric from the moving body in front of him, which Sehun tries very hard to avoid eye contact with. He’s not sure what should be happening right now, but he’s also too afraid to move.

Calm, Sehun assures himself, taking a few deep breaths. Just in and out and he’ll be done. His friends will pat him on the back, congratulating a mission accomplished and everyone will leave him alone. He sloshes the soda between his teeth and swallows when it loses its fizz. Yes. A mission. He nods reassuringly. 

Tao comes back a few painfully long moments later and taps Minseok’s shoulder. The boy stops doing his thing and climbs off of Sehun lap. Sehun lets out a relaxing breath, pulling himself up from the couch that had previously swallowed him, and Tao beckons for him to follow.

Sehun knocks on the door he’s brought to, maybe a bit too urgently, but he blames it on his anxiety.

ϑ

He didn’t even get to introduce himself, shake hands, or exchange any sort of greeting before he’s rudely ordered to sit down on the foot of the bed. He learns this guy’s name is Lu Han because it’s embroidered across the pillows.

Lu Han's delicate fingers start dancing across the underside of his knee, fleeting and light as if he were playing a piano tune. Sehun sits perfectly still, hands clutching a generous portion of the tacky velvet bedding in a death grip. He stares at the carpet and focuses on how ridiculously shaggy it is, all the while attempting to collect his thoughts. He just wants to get this over with as quickly as possible. Lu Han inches up the underside of Sehun’s thigh.

"Ah.." He jumps. "I uh.. er—"

Sehun scoots away rather frantically, laughing nervously and scratching the back of his head. The velvet of the duvet gets caught on his pants in an uncomfortable way, as if gripping him in place. A teasing grin draws across Lu Han’s features while he slides closer to compensate. 

"Are you…” Lu Han giggles, sliding his hands over to Sehun’s legs again, “playing hard to get.”

“What.” Sehun jumps again. 

“Because that’s going to cost you extra.”

“No I—uhm.. I…”

He brushes Lu Han’s encroaching hands away while moving further up the bed until most of the velvet bedding collects near the pillows and Sehun is practically lying down. “You just don’t have to do that.”

“Oh…” Lu Han almost looks dejected in the way his expression falls, but it lasts only briefly. His eyes spark up again. “Oh…”

The syllable escapes in a raspy and completely ridiculous tone. Sehun grips the velvet even tighter. 

"You like getting to the point." Lu Han pops the ‘P’, “don’t you?”

He turns around so that he’s on his knees, straddling Sehun’s shins near the foot of the bed. There’s a very uncomfortable heat originating from Lu Han’s thighs, seeping into his legs, and Sehun doesn’t think he can feel his toes anymore. He finds it overwhelming and awful. The curtains are awful, the carpet is awful, and the duvet damp from his palm sweat is awful. 

His face blushes profusely.

The fact that he has a considerable amount of cash in his pocket is awful. Lu Han crawling up his body, tracing asymmetrical shapes on both his exposed and clothed skin along the way could not be more awful. 

Sehun squirms because he’s ticklish. For some reason Jongin’s smug face pops into his mind at that moment, and Sehun mentally encourages himself that this is just a mission. He can do it. 

By now, Lu Han has reached Sehun’s face, his thighs on either side of his hips. He leans in, closing the space between them at an exponential rate. Sehun thinks about being eighteen, about Jongin’s demeanor, and about the excess cash in his pocket, and closes his eyes with a sharp inhale of breath.

He thinks he can do it, but when Lu Han’s lips meet his, the only word to float in Sehun’s mind is awful. His lips are soft and sweet and awful and oh god, he’s pressing harder and Sehun sinks deeper in to the velvet duvet and down feather pillows embroidered with the boy’s name. He’s panicking and Lu Han tastes entirely too sweet.

The robe slips off of Lu Han, revealing a bare shoulder, in the exact moment Sehun grips his shoulder. In his defense, he was trying to steady himself, even though his body can’t technically move while pinned under Lu Han, but the skin feels unnaturally soft and warm and Sehun doesn’t remember what he was even trying to do in the first place. More warmth rushes to his cheeks.

The bunched up blankets and pillows prove to be very comfortable as Sehun sinks further and further down into them, and for the moment being he almost forgets about the passing of time.

Then his thigh starts to tickle again.  
Oh wait, it’s just Lu Han’s fingers.

Sehun almost chokes. He would except his mouth is preoccupied doing other things. The thought really dawns on him though right then and there, that he’s in a room with a complete stranger, a room decked out in tacky red velvet, and that he’s carrying more cash than necessary in his pocket. 

Lu Han’s hands continue inching up Sehun’s thigh and when they reach the waistband of his jeans, he really does choke.

Lu Han pulls back from his claiming of Sehun’s mouth and smirks knowingly before moving on to nip at his neck, purring against his skin; Sehun tries to not let his inexperience be too obvious, but the flush of his face does nothing to help his case. 

He can’t really collect his thoughts. One moment he feels out of place, and the next he wants to feel like he’s in exactly the right place, especially with Lu Han sucking at the skin just bellow his throat. 

Outside a car drives by, but the flash of the headlights almost go unnoticed among the neon lights. 

When Lu Han’s hands disappear under his waistband and Sehun lets out a sound that’s not entirely appropriate for such little contact, his eyes snap open. The money strains in his pocket, heavy and lumpy on his thigh and Sehun doesn’t know whether to panic some more, or if he should relax or scream or continue moaning or what. 

"Stop!" Sehun shouts—in his head he’s screaming Abort mission. Abort mission—and he sort of throws Lu Han off of him, which doesn’t work out that well because Lu Han’s hands were still in his pants and so Sehun sort of falls with him, but he immediately jumps up and off of the bed and steadies himself on the bedpost, safely distancing himself from Lu Han. The time on the clock reads that only ten excruciatingly short minutes have gone by. Ideally, he doesn’t want to go back to his friends after only ten minutes.

Lu Han adjusts his garments and sits on his knees in the center of the bed, tilting his head and batting his eyes.

“What’s wrong?...” He traces lopsided circles into the bedding.

Sehun grips the bedpost tighter while holding his breath and keeping his eyes forward. Despite the inkling of appeal, Sehun can’t seem to wrap his mind around the thought of doing this, not entirely at least. 

As he’s standing upright again and less overwhelmed by Lu Han’s invasive presence, all of the red velvet seems to close in on him, neon lights outside the window blink even more obnoxiously at irregular intervals, and everything feels so out of place with just Lu Han sitting in the middle of the bed, sporting the most cheerful expression. 

Sehun digs out the cash in his pocket, a little crumpled and all courtesy of Jongin, and offers it in the most polite way possible. He lets out the figurative breath he’s been holding since the beginning.

"Can we just... talk?" He glances at the clock again, blushing hysterically, “is this enough for three hours?”

ϑ

“So?” Jongin asks him the next day.

Sehun is caught mid-bite of his sandwich. Chanyeol seems to be investigating his neck for any sort of physical evidence of the night’s endeavor.

“What?” Sehun has no reason to blush, but he does so anyways. It spreads from the apples of his cheeks to his ears. Jongin, of course, notices and Sehun can immediately feel his silent mocking.

“You’re totally paying me back.”

ϑ

As it turns out, Lu Han actually has a very nice voice when he’s not trying to be seductive, when his ridiculous and raspy tone is not infiltrating Sehun’s logical left-brain. At least, these are Sehun’s thoughts in the few moments before he loses consciousness. He falls asleep thinking about how stupid red velvet is.

ϑ

He gets detention on the following Friday for allegedly skipping a class he was actually present for. Jongin spends it with him. Technically, Jongin’s detention is for skipping his previous detention and the previous detention was for skipping the one before that.

Sehun reads the back cover of his lit book over and over and when he almost has it memorized, Jongin suggests they play paper football and they toss folded paper back and forth for the next hour. Sehun drops it more times than he catches it.

When he’s standing outside the school after hours, Sehun identifies a list of items he needs but some how, does not currently have. First, it’s his car, which he remembers is in the shop. Next, it’s his phone, so he can’t call his mother to come pick him up. Sehun pats down his pockets one last time before looking helplessly at Jongin.

Jongin almost doesn’t offer him a ride home. 

ϑ

After tearing up his entire house and completely reorganizing his locker at school, Sehun realizes, with a rather large horrification, that there is only one last possible place for his phone to be.

ϑ

Sehun arrives at Seventy-fifth Street with the same sentiment as last time. In and out and he’s done.

Tao stares him down, Sehun avoids Minseok altogether, and ironically, Lu Han actually greets him this time. 

“I’m Lu Han” He leans into the door, “But you can call me—”

Sehun pushes past him and drops to his knees, pressing his face to the carpet to search for his phone under the bed. He keeps his eyes focused on the task at hand, and refuses to let himself revisit any of the memories; the red velvet in which his knees are currently sunk into does not help one bit.

It’s not there, so he stands up and brushes some hypothetical dirt off of his pants. His eyes scan the room, purposefully overlooking the large array of lotion bottles on the vanity so he doesn’t start thinking about Lu Han’s skin. The trick is to not let his thoughts linger on anything. 

“What are you doing?” 

Sehun flips through the duvet, lifts up the pillows, and pats down the sheets. 

“I’m going to lunch in ten minutes.” Lu Han informs with an exasperated sigh, “so this is going to have to be quick.” 

Sehun ignores him and lifts up the mattress. 

“I mean I can give you a discount, I guess.” Lu Han picks at his nails. 

Sehun turns around. “Is my phone here?”

He speaks to the wall because he can’t exactly look at Lu Han without blushing again, not that anything even happened in the first place. It’s just the principle behind it all.

“Oh.” Lu Han walks over to his vanity and opens the top drawer. “You mean this?”

Sehun immediately snatches the phone over and begins filtering through it, trying to see if anything has been messed with, even though he only has a grand total of six contacts.

“By the way,” Lu Han picks up a bottle of lotion that has fallen over, “your mom called. She wants you to pick up milk on the way home.”

“You answered my calls?”

“Also, my number’s already in there. You know… for convenience.” Lu Han says before Sehun could object and say he didn’t ask for it. 

“That means I make house calls.”

“Why are y—”

“—because you pay well.” Lu Han smiles in that way and ruffles Sehun’s hair. “This has taken ten minutes of my time. I’m late for lunch. That will be fifty dollars.”

Lu Han seems to get a kick out of Sehun’s purity and finds it absolutely necessary to flood his inbox with inappropriate text messages. 

Sehun snaps his phone shut, but it’s too late. His face is already a bright shade of red and it’s his turn next to do the lab demonstration for his entire chemistry class. 

ϑ

The thing with the parties Jongin throws is that Sehun is obligated, according to Jongin, by friendship to attend, but he doesn’t actually have anyone to talk to once he’s there.

He sits on one of the benches on the patio, watching people cannonball into Jongin’s pool and making a mess of water everywhere, while idly flipping through his phone. He rereads all sixty-three text messages in his inbox and tries not to look so alone.

“Isn’t this great.” Jongin suddenly plops himself down next to Sehun, hair dripping wet from pool water.

Sehun doesn’t say anything. He opens the new message option and pretends to text. Jongin shakes his head, getting water all over Sehun, taps his feet a few times, and lets out a low whistle before getting up again to join the even larger mass of people inside his house. Sehun, mildly irritated at Jongin’s constant indifference, hits send without entirely meaning to do so.

He only half regrets it when Lu Han actually shows up twenty minutes later.

He looks around at the house full of high school students.

“I don’t do group entertainment.”

It’s weird to see Lu Han wearing actual jeans. 

“It’s not.” 

“This is not the kind of service I provide.”

“You provide companionship.” Sehun pats the bench next to him. It’s seemingly much easier to interact with Lu Han outside of his velvet room, “I need a companion.” 

He ends up spending his month’s worth of allowance that night just to listen to Lu Han babble on about his endeavors, which Sehun makes him keep at a PG rating.

ϑ

“Why are you here?”

Sehun isn’t sure. He just knows that the weather is cold and that he has inconveniently misplaced his jacket. It’s not at his house. Sehun is positive. He’s even rummaged through the dirty laundry.

“It’s not here…”

Instead of being annoyed, Lu Han is actually grinning, morbidly grinning.

“Well I don’t have it.” Sehun tosses the duvet onto the floor, but does not find his jacket in between the sheets. “It’s not at home.”

“That was weeks ago…” Lu Han points out as he picks the duvet back up, “you were here weeks ago.”

“Are you sure it isn’t in h—” Sehun opens the wardrobe and in front of him. A collection of silk items in nearly every color unfolds. 

“It’s a job requirement.” Lu Han explains.

Sehun almost wants to touch the silk, but that would be too weird. He closes the wardrobe immediately, blushing like usual. 

Of course Lu Han would have his stupid robes in multiple colors.

“Ok, it’s probably not here.”

ϑ

He thinks maybe Lu Han is just really pretty and has nice skin, or maybe it’s because he actually listens when Sehun talks, no condescension and Sehun doesn’t have to pretend to be anything he’s not. 

Or maybe Lu Han is the only one besides his mother to even bother texting him. 

ϑ

Sehun becomes less fearful of the place; the lights stop bothering him at all and in daylight it looks rather normal. He’s also figured out the best way to avoid Tao is to visit during the day since Tao’s shift is at night. So, Sehun comes barging in one sunny afternoon, demanding his chemistry textbook.

Minseok high-fives him on the way in; Sehun almost takes this as a sign that he’s been here entirely too much. 

It is a legitimate demand because Sehun has made a habit of coming here to study. He claims Lu Han helps him with chemistry, but the only chemistry Lu Han knows and frequently talks about is the composition of his lotions. So it is very likely that he could have left a textbook behind.

They end up watching TV as Sehun does problem sets. Lu Han never eats any of the snacks Sehun brings with him, but he always makes a fuss about the mess of crumbs he leaves behind.

Time goes by fast because just as Sehun starts on the last set of his homework, a knock comes at the door. He freezes, pencil stopping midsentence, and Lu Han looks a little apologetic.

“Sorry,” Lu Han says, jumping up to quickly change, suddenly realizing the time. “It’s six… I have to…”

Sehun thinks Lu Han looks more than normal, lounging around in sweatpants and a t-shirt, but when he starts to remove said clothing and thumbs through the items in his wardrobe, Sehun gathers all of his books as quickly as possible and this time he double checks to make sure nothing is left behind. It suddenly feels very stupid to be doing homework here in the first place. 

The knock at the door happens again, more pressingly so.

Sehun feels even more stupid for letting Jongin talk him into this in the first place. He forgets to pay for the hours of time spent as he leaves hurriedly, head low and eyes focused on the ground so as not to look at the person at the door. Sehun does notice that he has quite nice shoes, and he hears the faint sound of Lu Han’s voice just as he makes it to the lobby. 

“Lu Han. But you can call me Lu—”

Tao shows up for his shift just as Sehun is leaving. He waves politely at him and Sehun’s not sure if he’s actually being mocked or not. 

He feels even more stupid hailing a cab with a book bag slung on his back in this area of town. Sehun’s sure the cab driver is mocking him, too.

ϑ

After a week of attempting to avoid Lu Han and promptly deleting all incoming text messages that still never cease to make him blush, Sehun fails miserably and sends one in all caps. “EMERGENCY!!!”

“Do you even know what my services are?”

“Yes, but…” Sehun eyes the sink full of dishes, “these are the needs I need attending to.”

He watches Lu Han do the dishes, wearing his mother’s apron, and everything just feels so normal once again. He makes Lu Han fold the laundry, too.

Lu Han attempts to cook dinner as well, but he leaves the noodles in the pot for too long and they become soggy and Sehun can’t pick them up with his chopsticks without snapping the them.

He’s just about to ask for Lu Han to help him with chemistry again when six o’clock rolls around and Lu Han says he has to go. He doesn’t ask for monetary compensation, which is good because Sehun doesn’t have any to give, nor does he even say anything beyond that, but a sinking feeling reclaims Sehun’s heart nonetheless.

He watches through the window as Lu Han’s silhouette walks up the block and Sehun mentally reminds himself to schedule all activities to end before five.

ϑ

Sehun realizes, when graduation rolls around, that he hasn’t seen his real friends in months. That would explain the awkward tension felt by the four of them when they decided to get smoothies together after the ceremony.

He watches condensation roll down his glass as the other three discuss summer trips together; summer trips that, Sehun is sure, are without Sehun. At one point Chanyeol politely asks him what he’s been up to.

“Studying.” He answers without hesitation.

The rest of the conversation ensues without much input on his part.

Feeling left out is a complete understatement, especially when Chanyeol and Baekhyun both get into the back of Jongin’s car and Sehun is left to drive home alone, but he did partly bring this onto himself.

Sehun thinks he doesn’t need these friends, not when he can borrow money from his mother and drive himself to Seventy-fifth Street. Along the way, he blasts the music a bit too loudly and does not think about his yearbook with zero signatures.

He makes the case to himself that interaction with Lu Han is much easier, but that could be partially because Sehun has to pay him every time. 

Lu Han, completely unbewildered, almost laughs at him when Sehun barges into his room unannounced and slightly irritated, and suggests that they do it; when Sehun starts fumbling with his pants, Lu Han really does laugh.

Lu Han laughs until he falls on to the bed and continues laughing into the stupid red velvet duvet. 

“It’s not that funny.” Sehun holds out the wad of cash in one hand, his other on his zipper. Lu Han says something, but it is incomprehensible. 

“What.” Sehun doesn’t like this mocking.

It takes Lu Han a few moments, but he finally recomposes himself and ceases the laughter. He lets his face soften, spreading a grin across his features, and slowly makes his way over to Sehun. 

“Ok.”

“What?”

“I said...” He drags his bare feet across the carpet. “Ok...” 

Sehun doesn’t look at the way the shaggy curls of carpeting poke out through Lu Han’s toes. Lu Han grips his wrist and leans in so close that he is sure he can smell each individual lotion Lu Han puts on.

His breath tenses again. It’s worse than the first time because there’s no mission, no Kim Jongin to impress, and nothing to distract him. He’s sure his knees are shaking violently now. But like the first time, Sehun mentally encourages himself that he can, can, and can.

Just when he’s expecting the pressure on his lips, sweat beads already dotting his forehead, he feels it on his cheek instead, soft lips and spark that’s quick and over before it even started. 

Sehun blinks.

“See,” Lu Han resumes laughing after he pulls back and safely distances himself from Sehun, plopping onto the bed again, “you’re hilarious.”

Sehun wants to object, but Lu Han cuts in. 

“Do you want chemistry help? Is that why you’re here?”

ϑ

Sehun later learns that Lu Han views him as a complete joke. The fact that he has allowed Lu Han to test lotion on him is the testimony to that. 

“This will make your skin so soft.” Lu Han rubs his hands in circular motions on Sehun’s cheeks, squishing his face into uncomfortable shapes. Sehun mumbles something incoherent.

He moves on to massage his jaw, rubbing the lobes of Sehun’s ears as well. When he moves further down his neck, thumbing over Sehun’s throat and eventually massaging his shoulder area, Sehun squeaks and Lu Han laughs at him again. 

Sehun’s face flushes for the third time that day and he glares at the carpet.

Lu Han half-jokingly demands that Sehun lotion his back, distressfully claiming that his own arms are too short to reach.

ϑ

They spend most of the summer watching TV together since Sehun no longer has any chemistry inquisitions. He always makes sure to leave before five though, so he doesn’t get in the way of Lu Han’s job.

Lu Han has stopped asking for regular payment for his time. He does it arbitrarily instead, only demanding money when it’s most inconvenient for Sehun. He still likes to invade all of his personal space and plant kisses—in the most platonic way possible—on his skin and watch in utter amusement as Sehun fumbles and flushes.

Sehun’s not entirely sure how to define this relationship, but it’s currently the only one he has.

Baekhyun sends him a postcard with no words near the end of August, Chanyeol mails him a short letter with no pictures, and Jongin sends nothing at all except a “how’s summer” text message, which Sehun ignores.

Due to the amount of time Sehun spends hiding out in Lu Han’s velvet room, a guy named Kris, who allegedly owns the place, offers him a job. 

Sehun is beyond mortified and avoids Lu Han for the rest of the week.

He eventually comes crawling back with the excuse that he left his car keys behind and even goes out of his way to take the winding public transportation route to prove his point. 

Lu Han ruffles his hair and makes him pay for the five minutes of wasted time spent on the conversation. Sehun ends up staying an extra two hours.

ϑ

His friends move away and onto things like college. Sehun attends somewhere local and still spends a considerable amount of time in the red light district. 

Lu Han frequently teases him for this, but Sehun insists that he’s met a girl on campus and they have sex. Lot’s of it. Lu Han only pats his head and nods endearingly. 

On the days Sehun would stay until it’s dangerously close to six, he’d be brutally reminded of the reality of their situation and would feel horribly alone and friendless. He’d then go home rather dejectedly.

Then Sehun would crawl back the next day and Lu Han would want to test out his lotions again and Sehun would feel proud that his cheeks barely blush even when Lu Han applies it to his lower back. Lu Han’s fingers would smooth over his skin, inching over his sides and scratching lightly at his exposed hipbones. Only when he would get exceedingly close to his waistband again would Sehun jump and scramble towards the opposite side of the bed.

Lu Han would then proceeds to laugh furiously into the cotton blankets, which Sehun forced Lu Han to purchase as a replacement for the hideous velvet, and Sehun would kick him. 

This would be a cycle that reoccurs at least biweekly.


End file.
